A New Companion
by TyphoonSignal10
Summary: Ria is the newest member of the Companions, something she has wanted to be forever. When a routine assignment to kill a giant almost goes badly wrong, a new adventurer joins the guild, and turns Ria's life, and the Companions, completely upside-down.
1. Chapter 1

It has always been my dream to journey to Skyrim and to join the Companions at Jorrvaskr, ever since I first heard of their exploits and deeds, and was old enough to swing a sword. It has been my dream, and now it has come true. I have been inducted into their ranks after the completion of my trial with Vilkas. We were sent to retrieve a fragment of the great axe Wuuthraad, the one wielded by Ysgramor himself. It is wonderful; however, I do wish that the circle would stop referring to me as whelp, Vilkas especially. I mean, hadn't I shown that I was almost as brave as they were? Delving into Bleak Falls Barrow to retrieve the fragment, fighting off all those Draugr, not to mention the gigantic Frostbite spider we encountered down there. But no, all the members of the circle, apart from Farkas, insist on calling me whelp.

"Ria!" Farkas' deep voice jolts me out of my reverie. "Ria, we've got a job to do, a giant is attacking Pelagia farm outside of Whiterun and the owner has asked us to deal with it." I shook in an attempt to clear my head. A giant, and I was being asked to help deal with it, perhaps the circle were coming to respect me at last. "Come on whelp," Aela's voice shattered this idea, "If you don't get moving we'll leave you behind while we go off and win the glory."

"Aela, don't tease her." Farkas defended. "I'm not teasing her, if we wait much longer, that giant will destroy the entire farm." Was Aela's reply. I quickly grabbed my sword from where I had left it after polishing last night. "I'm ready, let's go." Aela snorted, "Finally." I shot daggers into her back, gods that woman was annoying. Not as bad as Njada, but still. I hurried after the two older companions. As we climbed the stairs I passed Athis coming down. I have to admit, after I read about the companions and their deeply Nordic legacy, I had been worried that they wouldn't allow an Imperial to join them, but when I tentatively opened the doors to Jorrvaskr for the first time and saw Athis, I knew it was all going to be alright. As we continued upstairs I saw Torvar passed out on the floor by the hearth, no doubt caused by his drinking the night before. I stifled a giggle at the expression on his face, and at the fact that someone had put a tankard on his head. Torvar wasn't allowed near bottles like the rest of the companions.

When Aela swung the doors open, I shivered slightly, the air outside was much colder than inside Jorrvaskr. Farkas saw the shiver and a wolfish grin crossed his face, if it had been Aela that had seen the shiver, I would have been subjected to a barrage of teasing on the subject. I glanced forward, fortunately Aela seemed to be completely focussed on the task at hand.

We proceeded past the dying Gildergreen and entered the Plains District, townspeople and guards called out "hail companions" and similar, and congratulated Aela and Farkas on their most recent triumphs. Aela largely ignored most of the calls, but Farkas acknowledged all of them with a smile and a nod of his head. As we neared the gates, I saw a dark-haired Nord woman exit the house next to Warmaiden's smithy and head off in the direction of the Bannered Mare, followed by a town guard. When we passed through the gates I heard one guard say to his friend that the Jarl was getting worried about the increased dragon activity, and that the gates would be closed to people not from Whiterun. Fortunately the guards recognised Aela and Farkas and let us through with out any trouble. I was of course slightly annoyed by the fact that they had no idea who I was. Farkas chuckled. "What is it?" I demanded. "The expression on your face Ria, you look like you've bitten into a sweetroll and found it to be garlic." I groaned, that didn't sound like something Farkas could come up with off the top of his head, there fore it was a trick of some kind that he had played, most likely on Torvar, recently.

We continued down the path outside Whiterun, heading towards Pelagia farm, as we passed under the drawbridge we could already see the farm. And the giant. It didn't seem to be damaging the farmhouse, rather it was kicking at the crops, and lashing out at livestock with its enormous club. Aela, Farkas and I broke into a run, as we neared the beast I suddenly realised how big it was. I'd heard descriptions in the over companions' stories of course, but they hadn't prepared me for the sheer size of the thing. It stood almost a metre taller than Farkas, and was almost twice as broad. In addition to the tree trunk and boulder it carried as a club, the giant wore a loincloth made of numerous animal hides strapped together. Aela drew her bow, I drew my sword, and Farkas his greatsword, but even that seemed like a toothpick compared to the giant's club. Regardless Farkas and I charged in, whilst Aela hung back and took shots at the beast with her bow.

I sunk the blade of my sword into the soft flesh behind the giant's left knee, and was rewarded with a growl of anguish for my efforts, whilst the giant's attention was turned away from him, Farkas swung his greatsword in a large arc, hitting the giant in its ribs. Roaring in anguish, the giant swung its club into Farkas, sending him flying across the farm. Aela ran forward and arrows sprouted from the giant's armpit. The giant roared again, and spun to face this new attacker, as it did so it swung its club around, catching me in the side, sending me flying across the farm away from my shield-siblings, I heard a thunk as my head impacted against a tree stump, and black spots and lines crossed my vision as I fought to remain conscious. I watched as the giant charged Farkas and Aela. Aela dropped her bow and drew her dagger. Farkas Swung his greatsword, wreaking a vengeance of steel and blood whilst Aela darted about striking the giant with her dagger, eliciting small grunts of pain from the beast with each strike.

Just as the giant began to falter, I heard a loud growling noise from behind my position at the bottom of the tree stump. I looked around, and too my horror I saw a second giant, equally as large as the first standing with its club raised above its head. I tried to move away, but the impact against the tree had caused my body not to listen fully to what my brain was trying to tell it to do, so I could barely roll to the side before the giant's club crashed into my side and a wave of pain rolled through my body, starting from the ribs. I screamed from the pain, distracting Aela and Farkas from the first giant, giving it an opening to knock them both back. My shield-siblings were too far away to come to my aid in time, and my body was not responding properly, so I prepared myself to go to Aetherius, I would never get to go to Sovngarde, but I had earned my honour and glory during my time and Nirn.

As the giant's club began to fall and I resigned myself to death, a flicker of movement caught my eye, and an Argonian dressed in full steel armour, minus the helm, burst from the treeline, swinging a steel greatsword as large as the one Farkas wielded. The weapon took the giant hard in the backs of both knees, causing it to buckle, and fall backwards, ripping the greatsword from the Argonian's grasp. Undeterred, the Argonian charged at the giant, drawing a sword from a sheath on his hip before plunging it through the giant's eye, killing it instantly. A roar from behind me indicated that Aela and Farkas had successfully dispatched the other giant. Having retrieved his weapon from the giant's knees, the Argonian turned his gaze to me, taking in my injuries, he turned to the treeline and shouted, "Falin, come quickly, we've got injured!" A female Dark Elf clad in hooded apprentice robes, materialised from the trees like a spriggan, and ran to my side. She knelt and ran her hands over my wounds, enveloping them in a glowing, golden light. I groaned as I felt my shattered ribs and torn muscles begin to knit themselves back together. Once the spell was completed, the Dark Elf began to stand up. "Thank you," I managed to say. She smiled, but otherwise gave no response to my words. The Argonian reached down to offer me a hand up. I took it and he hauled me up, offering me a smile, "Easy there land-strider, you took quite a nasty knock from that giant." His voice sounded completely alien to me, used only to the voices of my Imperial family, Nordic shield-siblings, and the Dark Elf Athis. At the sound of Farkas and Aela approaching, the Dark Elf's eyes widened, and she practically dived behind the Argonian's back. Completely unpertubed by this behaviour, Aela approached the Argonian, "That was well-timed friend, and well-fought as well-"

"You have our thanks for saving Ria's life" Farkas interrupted. Aela glared at him, "As I was going to say before Icebrains interrupted me, that was a good fight, we could use warriors like you up at Jorrvaskr."

"Jorrvaskr," the Argonian hissed, "As in the home of the companions? That would make you three members of the companions correct?" Farkas smiled, "Aye, that we are, I'm Farkas, this Aela, we're members of the circle, and this is Ria."

"She's our newest whelp." Aela interrupted, "If you are interested in joining our ranks, come up to Jorrvaskr and speak to Kodlak Whitemane about joining."

"That would be a good idea, I think," the Argonian said, "But would you allow my friend here to join as well? She is no warrior, but she is rather good at healing spells." Farkas smiled, "I'm sure we can make space for her somewhere friend."

"If I may," I spoke up, "could I perhaps learn the names of the people to whom I owe my life?" The Argonian laughed, "Ha! You can know our names, not that you will have heard of them. I am Ram-Ku, of Black Marsh, and this is Falin, my friend."

Ram-Ku was large for an Argonian, almost as tall and as broad as Farkas, his scales were a deep green, almost black, with red markings around his neck, and on the crests of his brow, his cheeks, and his jaw. The line along his left cheek was broken by three wide scars that barely missed his left eye. He had a long, straight horn protruding from each side of his head, explaining why he wore no helm, and long, red feathers sprouting between them. Falin, on the other hand was small and slim, even for a Dark Elf. Her skin was a very dark gray, with barely a hint of blue to it. Two thin scars curved down her left cheek towards the edge of her mouth. Any hair she had was obscured by her hood.

"Very well, we will see you in Jorrvaskr, if you feel up to the challenge." With that, Aela and Farkas turned to leave. I was about to follow them until I realised, "Aela, wait! The guards will not let these two into Whiterun on their own." Aela stopped, "Hmmm, you are right whelp; they will need to come with us if they intend to enter the city." The Argonian smiled again, "Ah we are lucky indeed to have met with you, if as you say, the guards are not allowing outsiders in, then we should have been forced to sleep outside. Which we have done before but it was not enjoyable." Falin merely smiled slightly from behind Ram-Ku's back.

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Characters and settings c. 2011 Bethesda Softworks LLC


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ****OK this is the second chapter of my Companions story. This chapter is about Ram-Ku and Falin joining the Companions, and describes the experiences of their first day.**

**Can I just say thank you to all my reviewers and followers. The first chapter of this story has been so much better recieved than the entirety of my other story. Please continue to read, review, follow, and maybe favourite. (Too much?) Anyway I'm waffling, on with the story.**

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On the way back to Whiterun, Ram-Ku started talking to Farkas, asking him about Whiterun. Farkas, being Farkas, only answered with short sentences, "Yeah", "It's alright," or "A fair few." When the topic turned to Jorrvaskr and the Companions, Aela took over from Farkas, giving more detailed and more interesting answers. He seemed very interested in Kodlak Whitemane, which made sense seeing as how Kodlak would be deciding whether or not he would be allowed to join us. Falin on the other hand didn't talk to any of us, and spent most of the short walk as close to Ram-Ku as possible, whilst remaining as far away from Farkas and Aela.

As we approached the main gate, one of the city guards, noticing Ram-Ku and Falin, came over to them and in a somewhat loud voice said, "Halt, no outsiders to enter the city, by order of the Jarl."

Aela stepped forward and in her usual tones said, "Stand down officer, these people are with us. They are hopefuls for the companions." The guard froze for a second, muttered something unintelligible, muffled by his full-face helmet, then signalled to his companion to open the gates for us. As the gates ground open, Ram-Ku cracked a smile, before turning and whispering something in Farkas' ear. Farkas stopped walking as he processed the information, then he smiled even wider than Ram-Ku and started laughing before he clapped Ram-Ku on the shoulder, prompting a slight jump from Falin, who had been standing next to said shoulder. So she was really quiet, and really jumpy, unfortunately I didn't think she was going to survive long in the Companions, but maybe Kodlak would be impressed by her healing abilites, I could definitely speak up for her about the usefulness of those.

When we entered Whiterun I noticed Idolaf Battle-Born, dressed in full Imperial light armour, in heated discussion with Adrianne Avenicci at her forge, seemingly about weapons for the Imperial legion. I took no sides in the war, neither personally, nor as a part of the companions. We intended to remain neutral throughout the civil war. Ram-Ku seemed to be happy just taking in all of the sights of the city, "Your first time in a city?" I asked him curious as to his behaviour. He smiled at me, "No, just in one like this." He turned back to the path in front and said nothing more on the matter.

As we walked further into the plains district, the sounds of the market hot steadily louder, traders calling out their wares, children playing tag in the streets. When we reached the market, Ram-Ku became distracted by Jon Battle-Born, who he got along well with, especially after asking where he could get a drink which, according to both men, was the most important question of all. He disappeared into the Bannered Mare for about a minute, before reappearing with a couple of bottles of mead under his arm. Looking at our expressions he grinned, "I haven't had a good, strong drink in days, I'm parched."

"You should have waited until we were up at Jorrvaskr, we have plenty of mead and ale, and we drink it often." Aela told him. Ram-Ku continued grinning, opened one of bottles and drank deep from it, "Aye, but I'm not a Companion yet, plus, I was thirsty now." I shook my head, it seemed like he would get on very well with Torvar. We walked up the steps that led to the wind district, approaching the Gildergreen and Jorrvaskr. Falin appeared very interested in old, dying tree, running her dark hands across its pale bark. "Falin, Jorrvaskr's this way." Ram-Ku nudged the elf's shoulder before pointing in the direction of Jorrvaskr. Falin smiled at him before turning towards Jorrvaskr and following us up the steps.

As Farkas opened the doors of the mead hall, the relative peace of the Wind district was shattered by the sounds of Njada Stonearm and Athis arguing with each other. As Ram-Ku entered the building, someone from inside shouted, "A fight!" Rather predictably it was Athis and Njada going at it in the empty space at the end of the hall. Ram-Ku looked at the duo before calling, "Ten septims on the Nord." Aela laughed, "Good choice, but you won't find anyone to bet against you, Athis always loses these fights, so no-one bothers betting on them anymore." True to her words, Athis was quickly knocked down by Njada, who put the Dark Elf in a headlock before demanding that he submit. Athis did so, to the raucous laughter of the assembled Companions and Ram-Ku.

Once Athis and Njada had gone back to their seats at the table, and their argument, Ram-Ku turned to me, and asked where Kodlak could be found. Before I could answer however, Aela cut across and told him that the Harbinger was downstairs, in his chambers. Ram-Ku disappeared down the stairs, with Falin trailing after him like some sort of extra shadow.

Seeing as I had nothing better to do, I went over and spoke to Njada and Athis about the fight that they'd just had. Njada said that it had gone exactly as she had been expecting, and that she couldn't understand why Athis kept on at it, instead of giving up. To which Athis' response was, "I live in a traditional Nordic environment, surrounded by Nords, I have to try to learn your stubborn, pig-headed ways." This then sparked another fight, with a similar result, this time Njada knocked Athis onto his backside.

As I went over to assist Athis, and possibly to laugh to at him, Vilkas stormed up the stairs leading from the sleeping quarters, followed by an equally angry looking Ram-Ku and a typically jumpy Falin. I couldn't help wondering exactly what had happened down there that caused the expressions on Vilkas' and Ram-Ku' faces. As he passed Farkas, I heard Ram-Ku say, "Your brother's an arsehole, you know that?" Farkas' typical response was "He's like that to everyone at first, just let him get to know you." Ram-Ku merely hissed and followed Vilkas out onto the practice grounds.

"This should be good," Aela said, standing to go out and watch Vilkas test Ram-Ku's arm on the training grounds. Farkas followed her, Njada and a recently awoken Torvar in his wake. I looked at Athis, he nodded, "It should be interesting to watch Vilkas go at someone new, see if the lizard's any good." I groaned inwardly at the remark as I remembered that Dark Elves like Athis had kept Argonians like Ram-Ku as slaves up until the eruption of the Red Mountain, and that there was still animosity between the two races. I stopped, if that was the case, then why were Ram-Ku and Falin such firm friends? I would have to ask him about that, for I probably would not get a response from Falin.

As I left the confines of Jorrvaskr and stepped out onto the training ground, Vilkas and Ram-Ku were already facing each other, weapons bared at each other, Ram-Ku's enormous greatsword, and Vilkas' shorter sword and his shield. The other Companions' voices were calling out bets, mostly on the side of Vilkas, but a few, such as Skjor and Torvar on the side of Ram-Ku.

The two males circled each other warily. Both bare-headed. Ram-Ku clad in his steel armour, imperial bracers and boots, Vilkas in his steel armour with the wolfs-head motif on the chest, the wolf-fur lining and kilt. Ram-Ku hissed and swung his greatsword in a powerful arc, smashing it against Vilkas' hastily raised shield, staggering the smaller Nord. Whilst he recovered from the swing, Vilkas smashed his shield against Ram-Ku's chest in an attempt to push him backwards. Ram-Ku retaliated, swinging his greatsword downwards from above his head in a strike that could easily cleave a smaller man in half. Vilkas dodged to the side, then swung his sword from left to right towards the top of the Argonian's blade, and his shield from right to left at his opponents gauntleted hands, knocking the sword from his grasp, pushing him onto his back. "It's over Argonian," Vilkas growled, "You lose."

Ram-Ku merely grinned at him, "It is not over until it's over, Land-Strider." Whilst Vilkas was distracted by Ram-Ku's words, he had completely failed to notice the Argonian's muscular, scaly tail wrapping itself around his leg, until its grip tightened and pulled him to the ground. Ram-Ku rolled to the side, grabbing up his greatsword, he smirked at Vilkas, although with his reptilian features it looked more like a grimace, "When fighting an Argonian, never forget his tail." He hissed at Vilkas, before swinging his greatsword down again. This time when Vilkas raised his shield, the blade of the greatsword kept travelling, cleaving the wood and steel in two, a testament to the strength of the person wielding it.

"That's enough!" Skjor's strong voice rang across the grounds, "Ram-Ku, you have proven yourself worthy to count yourself as one of the Companions. Vilkas, go and see Eorlund about getting your shield repaired." With that he turned and walked off into Jorrvaskr, followed by Aela, Njada and the other whelps, and finally Farkas. As I turned to leave I saw Vilkas thrusting his sword and ruined shield to Ram-Ku's chest, and I overheard him telling him to take them up to Eorlund Gray-Mane to be repaired.

Continuing on my way, I noticed that Falin seemed to have disappeared. I shrugged, she had mostly likely gone off with Ram-Ku to speak to Eorlund. As I entered Jorrvaskr, I realised that I hadn't seen Falin outside whilst Ram-Ku was fighting. I made a mental note to ask Ram-Ku a bit more about his friend, see if I could get to know her. When I entered the communal area that I shared with the rest of the Companions that weren't members of the circle, I overheard Njada complaining, "You shouldn't be here, you bring nothing to the Companions. I can't even work out why Kodlak let you join in the first place." I thought nothing of it, she was most likely arguing with Athis, it was a commonplace thing, however her next words changed my mind entirely, "I mean," she snorted, "It's not like you're even good company, you don't speak to anyone. Furthermore you're a cowardly milk-drinker, snivelling in the corner rather than defending yourself."

I rounded the corner and was confronted with the sight of Falin curled up in the corner, arms covering her head, silent tears running down her face, with Njada standing over her, arms crossed menacingly, her face twisted into a sneer. As Njada opened her mouth to continue her abusive tirade, I stepped in front of her and punched her square in the mouth. Njada reeled backwards from the blow, before glaring at me, shocked. I was unsure who was more shocked, me or Njada. I didn't consider myself to be aggressive in this manner, I had never participated in the drunken brawls that took place when the companions had been celebrating too hard, never punched someone in the face, until now that is. Before Njada could react, I drew my sword and pointed it at her, "Leave her alone Njada, she's done nothing to you, and you're almost twice her size."

Njada sneered again, "You wouldn't have the guts to stab me Imperial, to afraid of what the Circle would do, to afraid of getting kicked out of Jorrvaskr." I glared at her, she was right of course. The Companions meant too much to me to do that. "Just leave her alone Njada, or I will make your life a living hell." I had no idea where these defiant words were coming from, no idea what had made this bold. Then I glanced behind me at Falin's tear-marked face and I realised. I had joined the Companions to be a part of their heritage yes, but also so that I could protect those weaker than me from those who wished them harm. I turned back to Njada. "Get out," I snarled, "Now!"

Once Njada had left, I dropped my sword and ran to Falin's side. She was still crying. Some unknown instincts inside me told me to comfort her, listening to said instincts, I hesitantly wrapped my arms around the elf's thin frame. Meeting no resistance, I pulled her tighter and starting making soft reassuring noises, like I had often seen the stable-hands of Whiterun make to startled horses. It seemed to work, Falin quickly calmed down and burrowed deeper into my arms before falling asleep. I lay there, shielding and sheltering the Dark Elf until sleep finally claimed me.

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**A/N: Just to point out, I really dislike Njada Stonearm. The final scene is based on the first thing she said to my Argonian when I entered the sleeping area of Jorrvaskr. I hated ever since. Let me know your opinions on that scene and also on my portrayal of the characters, I hope I've got them right.**

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Characters and settings c. 2011 Bethesda Softworks LLC


	3. Chapter 3

When I awoke the next morning the first thing I realised was that someone had put me to bed after I fell sleep on the floor the previous night with Falin. The second thing was that they hadn't bothered to remove my armour so my back felt like an angry giant had used it for target practice, again. I decided to go and find Falin, to see if she was alright, and also to see is she could do anything about my back. I strapped on my sword and headed up the stairs to the main hall.

As I walked through the door, I noticed that Njada was sporting a split and a bruised jaw. She was also sporting an expression of sheer hatred and malice towards me. She stood up and began to make her way other to me. I panicked, without the adrenaline rush of last night, there was no way I could beat Njada in a fistfight. Before she reached me however, Athis stepped in from outside, followed by Vilkas. He took one look at Njada's bruised face before bursting into laughter, "By the Eight Njada. Who did that to your face? I've never seen you lose. Who was it? Uthgerd?" Njada looked at him for a second, before drawing her arm back and punching him straight in the gut.

Athis doubled over, spouting expletives. When he recovered, he advanced on Njada with a fire in his eyes. Most of the other Companions started grinning, anticipating a fight. None of us was expecting the loud crashing noise from the living quarters, nor were we expecting an absolutely furious Ram-Ku storming up the stairs wearing only a pair of trousers with a hole cut in the back for his tail. "Who was it?" he roared, "Which one of you ignorant, racist Nords decided it was a good idea to go after Falin?"

I had thought that giants were fearsome creatures. Compared to the look of absolute fury in Ram-Ku's eyes though, the giants seemed like milk-drinkers. Aela stepped forward with her hands raised in an attempt to calm Ram-Ku down, "Calm yourself Ram-Ku, this is not going to help anyone." He turned on her, "Was it you?" he demanded, "Did you scare Falin?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." The huntress appeared to be somewhat frightened by Ram-Ku. I heard Vilkas's voice behind me.

"Ria, Athis, you're not Nords, you try to talking to him." I realised that he was probably right, but that didn't make the task of calming down the massive Argonian any less of a daunting one. Athis on the other hand stepped up to Ram-Ku, "Calm down friend, have a drink, a let's start all this from the beginning." He offered Ram-Ku a tankard of mead from the table, "What's going on hmmm? You know I didn't do it, I'm not a Nord. Please explain."

Ram-Ku glared at the Dark Elf before snatching the offered tankard from his grasp, and proceeding to down it in one. He threw the now empty tankard to the floor and sat down. "I woke up this morning to find Falin clinging to me, covered in sweat. Like she always does after nightmares. Once I calmed her down I asked what was wrong. She told me that a Nord had told her she wasn't worthy to be a member of the Companions, shouting abuse at her." He took a deep breath before continuing, in a much quieter tone, "I just want to know who it was, and to let them know that I will not let Falin be mistreated like that, she deserves better."

There was silence at this announcement, broken by Skjor's gruff, "Well that worked." Aela looked furious and started demanding to know who could have done this. "Njada," I said, "It was Njada." Ram-Ku and Aela both looked at me. "How would you know?" Ram-Ku hissed, at the same time Aela said, "Do you have any evidence?" I looked between the two of them.

"I walked in when she was doing it," I said, "I punched her in the face, and told her to leave Falin alone."

Ram-Ku stared at me for a second, his piercing blue eyes locked on to mine. He turned and began to advance towards Njada. Vilkas and Farkas both stepped in front of him, "Calm down brother," Vilkas said, "Kodlak and the Circle will deal with Njada. How about you go out on a job for us?"

"Yes," Aela cut in, "We have reports of a bear invading a house in Riverwood, and the owners have sent for someone to deal with it. I think you should go, let off some steam maybe?" I could see the anticipation in her eyes, and the smouldering anger in Ram-Ku's eyes. He nodded before turning around and heading towards the living chambers. I let out a breath that I was unaware that I had been holding as the door swung shut behind him.

Silence filled Jorrvaskr. It was the silence you experienced before two armies met on the battlefield, before the skies opened up and bolts of lightening pelted the ground. It was the silence before the storm. "Njada," Aela's tone was deceptively soft and quiet, "Why? Why did you do this?" Njada attempted a response, but in the face of Aela's silent fury she began to stammer and her excuses fell away. Then came the storm, "How DARE you speak like that to a fellow Companion!" Aela snarled, regardless of how they may appear, they are each our shield-siblings and will be treated with respect!"

Skjor cut across the huntress' rant, "You will forbidden from taking contracts until the end of next month, and until we deem you to have been punished enough you will help Tilma with anything that needs doing around Jorrvaskr, and I mean anything." The menace in his voice was undeniable.

The door to the sleeping chambers banged again, this time Ram-Ku was fully dressed in his steel armour, carrying his greatsword across his shoulders. He glanced once at Njada before he swung open the main doors, and disappeared into the sunshine.

I headed towards the sleeping quarters, intending to get my sword, then go and see Vilkas for a job. I preferred Farkas to Vilkas, but I had never been very credible when I tried to intimidate people around Skyrim, that was Njada's area of expertise. I was stopped in my tracks by Vilkas, "Hey, whelp, where are you going?" I tried to formulate a response but he continued, "Have you forgotten about our practice sessions? Or are you trying to escape them?" he grinned at me. Of course, the training, something I had completely forgotten about due to all the drama of this morning and last night. I greatly regretted ever asking Vilkas to teach me about two-handed weapons, but my pride as a Companion refused to let me back down, no matter how difficult it got, or how much Vilkas still battered me after nearly three months of training.

I groaned inwardly, and altered my course to instead grab one of the steel greatswords from the weapons rack by the doors. Vilkas chuckled as he walked out of the door; it seemed that my two-handed training was a point of humour amongst the Companions, at least if Athis' grin was anything to go by. I groaned again before following Vilkas out to the training ground.

When I got outside, Vilkas was already warming up with his blade. His motions seemed so fluid to me, so effortless and graceful. Especially when compared to my slow, clumsy movements with the big blades. Regardless, I hefted my borrowed greatsword and began to run through the warm-up routine that Vilkas had designed for me. As I did so, I allowed my mind to wander on the subject of greatswords, the only people I had seen using them, other than the occasional bandit I encountered during my jobs, were Vilkas, Farkas, and now Ram-Ku. In my unfocussed mind this equated to the fact that only large males knew how to use greatswords properly, therefore, as an average female, I would never be able to wield a greatsword properly. This all made perfect sense to my subconscious, but when I actually thought about it, I realised it was complete rubbish. I just needed to keep trying.

"Whelp. Whelp. WHELP!" Vilkas' voice cut through the fog of my daydream, "Stop daydreaming, and come at me." I flinched slightly, before raising the blade of my greatsword up into a rough approximation of the ready position that Vilkas had taught me. Vilkas sneered at my attempt, "Move that left hand further up the handle, bend your right elbow a bit more, hold it steady." Each instruction was accompanied by a sharp rap with the flat of Vilkas' greatsword to illustrate where the problems were.

"Alright, close enough, let's begin." Vilkas swung his sword at me from my left, I barely got my own blade up in time to block the swing, but I knew that for Vilkas, that movement had been slow and almost ponderous. I needed to improve my speed. He swung his sword again, slightly faster this time, almost hitting me. Somehow I had managed to dodge out of the way, almost dropping my sword in the process. "You need to keep a better grip on your blade than that whelp." Vilkas' taunt caused the tips of my ears to redden with embarrassment, I knew I was crap with the greatsword, but did he really need to announce that fact to the rest of the Companions.

The sparring continued on towards noon. I was getting tired, and was making frequent mistakes, but Vilkas had barely broken a sweat, and seemed to be almost as energetic as when we started. I began praying to the divines that we would finish soon, preferably before I completely humiliated myself. As I circled round Vilkas, a flash of blue on the porch caught my attention. Falin had come outside, and was watching us spar with a small smile on her face.

"Eyes on the prey, not on the horizon whelp." Vilkas shouted, drawing my attention back to him just in time to block yet another swipe from his greatsword. Falin jumped at the loud noise produced by the clash. I had no further opportunity to watch Falin's reactions, as Vilkas began to increase the speed and power of his attacks, driving me across the courtyard with his relentless attacks. My grip on the handle of the greatsword began to lessen as my palms became sweaty, a sure sign that I was almost finished.

Suddenly, the blade slipped out of my hands, just as Vilkas brought his blade round in a devastating arc. Without my blade to block it, the momentum of his swing sent the blade into the gap between my armour and my bracers. I screamed in pain as the sharp metal of the blade dug deep into my arm. I collapsed to the floor clutching at my arm. As the blade fell out, I glimpsed white bone through the torn flesh. The wound was far deeper than any I had previously received. I began to black out. I vaguely heard Vilkas cursing, shouting pleas to all the divines, including Talos. The last thing I saw before the darkness claimed me, was Falin rushing over, her hands wreathed in flickering, golden light.

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**A/N: Hope everyone's enjoying this, if you are, let me know. If you aren't, let me know how I could make it better. Also, I'd like to know everyone's opinions on the characters of Ram-Ku and Falin.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am very sorry for how long it has taken me to update this. I blame school, exams, and my sister for this. Anyway, I'm back, and so is Ria. In this chapter we learn a bit more about Falin and Ram-Ku.**

**Also, we learn that Ram-Ku does not exactly agree with a certain companion's stance on the war.**

* * *

My mind was clouded, I could see things, things that could not, or should not exist. I saw Farkas and Aela turn into sabre cats and run off after Torvar, who then turned into a tankard of mead. The view blurred, shifted and changed, so that Vilkas and Njada appeared, merged into one giant, angry monster that appeared to be intent on punching me in the face, and then killing me with a greatsword. Suddenly Ram-Ku ran out in front of me, brandishing his own greatsword above his head, swinging it at the oncoming monster, driving it away. When the monster was gone, he turned to me and spoke. But it was not an Argonian's reptilian hiss that came from his mouth but a soothing, female, Nordic tone, "I don't know, it doesn't look like she'll be coming round anytime soon Harbinger. But she's not in any danger, not anymore." Then Ram-Ku dissolved into a blur of colours which faded as my vision went black.

The next time I saw colour again could have been seconds later; it could have been months, by the divines it could even have been years. I had no concept of time's passing in my current state. This time the vision did not appear to be the sort of thing that Torvar raved about after a particularly indulgent night of drinking. It appeared to make sense, so therefore I was probably awake this time. I tried to get up, but the pain in my arm was too great and I fell back onto the bed. I felt a weight on my stomach, looking down I saw a mess of tangled white hair resting on the bed, obscuring any facial features that might have identified the person. I suddenly felt certain that if I moved the hair aside, I would see dark grey skin, red eyes, and two thin curving scars.

As if she had heard my thoughts, the person shifted, looking up at me from behind the curtain of her hair. When she realised that I was conscious she jumped up and ran out of the room, probably to fetch the others. I lay back, staring at the ceiling, recognising it as the ceiling of the temple of Kynareth, so Falin had probably gone to fetch Danica Pure-Spring.

Several minutes later Falin, now with her hood up, and Danica entered the room, followed by Vilkas and Ram-Ku. Vilkas looking guilt-ridden and embarrassed, Ram-Ku looking relieved and faintly annoyed at being dragged down here for Falin's sake.

"It's good to see you are awake again my dear," Danica spoke with the same soothing tone that I heard Ram-Ku using in my vision. I giggled slightly at the memory. Vilkas and Danica exchanged worried glances. "It must just be the effects of the pain medication," Danica reasoned after a while, "Maybe we reminded her of a dream or something?"

Vilkas moved in front of her, "Are- are you okay, whelp?" he asked. I blinked, I was lying in an infirmary bed, apparently out of my head on pain medication, all because he'd hit me with his stupid greatsword, and _still_ he called me whelp?

"Whelp?" I hissed, sounding vaguely, to my drug-addled brain anyway, like Ram-Ku when I had first met him. "You nearly take my arm off with your bloody greatsword, leave me in the infirmary for gods-know how long, then turn up here seemingly not caring and calling me whelp? How do you bloody think I'm feeling?" I could see the shock in his eyes at the vehemence in mine. Good. Let him be shocked. The shock quickly turned to anger. Fortunately Danica took charge before the situation got out of hand.

"Right then. You. out. You don't need to be here, and you're just making her angry. Go on get out." Vilkas glared at me one more time before leaving. Ram-Ku appeared to be grinning, then Danica rounded on him as well. "You're only here because your friend refuses to be left alone with Nords. Sit in the corner and keep quiet. Dumb-struck, Ram-Ku did as he was told. I giggled again, the sight of the massive Argonian warrior being ordered around by the much smaller priestess was one that I found to be remarkably humorous. Falin also seemed to think so, at least if the small smile that appeared briefly on her face was anything to go by.

Once Danica had finished shepherding Ram-Ku into an out of the way corner, she turned her attention to me and more specifically, the bandages on my right arm. "You're very lucky that your friend here is quite skilled in restoration magic," She told me as she unwound the bandages, "And that she was so close and so quick to react. Without her, you'd probably have lost the arm." I let her words think in, horrified. Without my arm I'd be useless in a fight, no longer able to count myself as one of the Companions. I looked over at Falin, it seemed that I owed her a great deal.

I felt cold air against my skin, Danica had finished unwrapping my bandages, revealing a large, ugly scar right across my forearm. I sucked in air, I had not expected it to look that bad, and if Falin had got to me quickly with healing magic, then that meant that the injury had initially been much worse. "At least it's all healed up now," Danica said, "You should be able to go back to swinging your sword in about a week." She smiled at me.

"And how long have I been here?" I asked. Wanting to know, but not entirely sure I wanted to hear the answer.

"About a month," She replied, "Again you have to be thankful to your friend, had she not healed you, it would have taken much longer to heal an injury of that size." She applied something to my skin from a small jar that I had not previously noticed. Then she stood up, "Well, there's nothing more that I can do for you dear, you might as well go back to Jorrvaskr, but no adventures for at least another week, and if you do punch a shield-sibling in the face, not that I condone that sort of behaviour mind you, please use your left hand." She laughed at the expression on my face. "We all know about that dear. I believe Mikhael wrote a song to the effect."

I groaned, one thing that I most definitely did not need, was Mikhael the bard deciding that I would be his next 'conquest', and attempting to woo me constantly. Still, if he did try to press it, I could always punch him, with my left hand of course. Danica walked out, most likely to deal with other, more critically injured patients than me, leaving me alone with Ram-Ku and Falin. "Thank you," I said, "Thank you for saving my arm Falin, without it I wouldn't be able to count myself as a Companion any more. Thank you."

Falin looked embarrassed, burying her face in Ram-Ku's arm for a moment, before looking up at him and making a series of gestures. He nodded, "She says to think nothing of it Ria, you are her friend and she was looking out for you."

"It wasn't nothing," I said, "It means a great deal to me." Falin smiled at this. "Ram-Ku, I don't mean to pry, but…"  
"Yes Ria?"

"Why doesn't Falin talk to anyone?" His face clouded, I think, I was no good at reading the more subtle expression and emotions in human faces, never mind Argonians. "Sorry," I said, "Is that too personal or something?" Ram-Ku merely shook his head.

"No, no. I suppose as her friend, you should know. That is, if she wants you to know," he glanced at Falin for confirmation, apparently receiving it, he continued, "It is not that Falin does not speak, it is that she can not speak. Her vocal chords were crushed by a Nord who attempted to strangle her. That is also why she does not trust or like Nords." I felt shocked by this revelation, she couldn't speak? I had merely assumed that she was simply very shy. Ram-Ku looked downcast, then he suddenly brightened up, "Right, let's go back to Jorrvaskr and get drunk then." He announced.

"Wait what, why?" I couldn't understand or keep up with the sudden mood change.

"Well, you're awake, I passed my trial, and Kodlak has accepted Falin on the grounds of healing people. What's not to celebrate?"

I smiled at this news, "So I'm no longer the newest Companion then?"  
He roared with laughter, "No, no you're not. Come on then, last one back's a skeever dropping."

"Not fair, I'm injured." I shouted.

"Oh well, tough break." He grinned, sticking his long tongue out. As he turned to run a flash of green light shot from Falin's hand, hitting him square in the back, causing him to fall to the floor, motionless. I recognised the effects of a paralysis spell. She walked over to him, shrugged, and made another series of gestures, smiled at him, and held out her hand to me.

We left the temple, stepping over Ram-Ku's prone form, stopping to let Danica know not to worry about Ram-Ku, that it was merely a paralysis spell, and that he deserved it. As walked up to Jorrvaskr, we were stopped by a young girl begging for money by the Gildergreen, we each gave her a few spare septims, causing her face to light up, before we continued on our way.

When we entered the mead hall, we were greeted by a great wall of noise that prompted Falin to dive behind me from fright. "She's back!" Torvar roared, "Let's all have a tankard of mead to celebrate! No? Fine, I'll have tankard for everybody!" I grinned at this.

"I told you she'd be ok," Aela shouted at Skjor, "She's a warrior." She collapsed in a fit of giggles. "Torvar! Did you spike my mead?"

"So what if I did? You'd never get drunk otherwise. Besides, this is hilarious!"

"Hilarious? I'll show you hilarious! Come here!"

I joined in the laughter as a furious huntress chased a terrified Torvar around the main hall, regardless of the tankards and plates he threw in her way to stop him.

As everyone continued laughing, I noticed Tilma coming over to speak to me. "Are you ok dear? I was so worried about you, what with your arm and all. Will you be able to fight?"

"Yes Tilma," I replied, "Thanks to Falin here anyway. It's good to know that you care about me."  
"Oh I care about all the warriors of Jorrvaskr, dear," but especially when they get themselves injured."  
Yes, but I didn't get myself injured did I? Vilkas did that. Speaking of Vilkas, where was he? I heard the doors of the mead hall swing open behind me, I turned to see Ram-Ku walking in, still slightly stiff from the Paralysis spell.

"That was uncalled for Falin." He said.

"Oh well, tough break." I interjected, sticking my tongue out for good measure. He stared at me for a few seconds before tipping his head back and laughing.

"I suppose I deserved that," He said, "As they say, 'All's fair in love and war.'"

Kodlak's voice carried over the unmistakeable sounds of Aela beating Torvar about the head with an empty tankard, "Now that our newest shield-brother has returned, along with our recently-healed shield-sister, let the celebrations commence."

The words were greeted with a loud cheer from everyone, including Aela, and a slightly concussed Torvar.

When the Companions drink, we drink hard. Amongst the highlights of that night were Ram-Ku and Skjor having a dance-off on the tables, Athis and Njada hugging and announcing that they loved each other before passing out, and Aela attempting to build herself a house out of sweetrolls.

Eventually though, the talk turned to the civil war that was currently plaguing Skyrim. Despite being an Imperial, I took no sides in the war, holding to the code of the Companions to remain neutral. Many of the others held a passing belief that one side was better than other. Athis supported the Empire, Njada supported the Stormcloaks, leading to a fight between the two to decide which was better. Kodlak remained neutral, as did Aela and Skjor. Farkas didn't really care, or know enough about the war to have an opinion. No one really supported either side, other than as a hypothetical thing, apart from Vignar Grey-Mane, who was strongly on the side of the Stormcloaks, and would often, as he was doing so now, hold forth his opinions on both sides of the war.

"When the Empire surrendered to the Aldmeri Dominion, they shamed us all. The cowardly Imperial politicians would rather roll over and submit to the wishes of those foul elves, rather than fight for their beliefs." There was some slight groaning, we'd all heard this before, "Now the elves are allowed to take us from our homes if they so much as suspect Talos worship," Vignar's voice became louder, but so did the groans, as he began to disturb some of the more hung-over Companions with his rantings. "The only way we will be able to be free of the Thalmor's tyranny is if we side with Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King of Skyrim. He will give us the land that we desire and deserve. He will rid us of the Thalmor menace. He will- "

"Ulfric Stormcloak can go and bugger himself up the arse with a greatsword." Ram-Ku cut across Vignar's monologue.

"How dare you," the old man seethed, "Have you no respect for- "

He was interrupted again, "That racist piece of self-interested mammoth-shit? No, I have no respect for him, because he has no respect for me. Think about it Vignar. If you follow Ulfric, you will get the land that you desire. But it will be the land that Nords desire. Look around you, if Ulfric becomes High King, how many of your shield-siblings will he force to leave? Athis, Falin and me? Quite definitely. Ria as well possibly. Ulfric will turn Skyrim into a land where there are few, if any non-Nords. Any that do remain will be shunned, and forced to do the most menial jobs, the jobs that the Nords do not want!"

"How dare you insult Ulfric like this!" Vignar's face had turned bright red by this point, "He would never do such a thing."

Ram-Ku laughed bitterly, "Have you ever been to Windhelm, of course you haven't. He's already doing it. The Dunmer live in slums, and the entire Argonian population is forced to live in a tiny, cramped building outside the city walls. Go to Windhelm and see what your precious Ulfric Stormcloak would do to Skyrim." With that, he stormed out of Jorrvaskr, slamming the door behind him.

At the same time, Vilkas came in from the other side. He looked at everyone's faces, especially Vignar's expression of fury, "What the hell have I just missed?"He asked.

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**A/N: I** **wrote the last part after getting pissed with Vignar for constantly telling my characters that "When the Empire surrendered to the Aldmeri Dominion, they shamed us all." He really annoys me. Ram-Ku's opinions mirror my own here. Ulfric is racist, and will expel most non-Nords from Skyrim, in order to meet the requirements of the Nords.**

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Characters and settings c. 2011 Bethesda Softworks LLC


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I would like to start this chapter with an apology, and a rant.**

**First, the apology: I am very sorry for how long it is taken me to publish this chapter. I blame an outdated virus-checker. Which is still my fault because I forgot to update it... anyway, I should update more regularly now.**

**Now the rant: I have recieved my first 'flame' on a fanfic. If you are going to blast my story, please make sure that you are right. The review in question said:**

**'Emeric:"so I prepared myself to go to Aetherius, I would never get to go to  
Sovngarde". Hate to burst your bubble but Sovngarde exists within Aetherius,  
it is a division of Aetherius itself. Also Ria had proven her mettle in  
battle, she would be more than welcome in Sovngarde. Please research before  
writing.'**

**My problem with this is the part about research. Admittedly I hadn't done any, but when I did I found that Sovngarde is a NORD paradise(The only in-game non-Nord to visit Sovngarde is the Dragonborn), and that Ria says that she will never get to Sovngarde In-game. So even if Imperials could get to Sovngarde, Ria does not believe that she will.**

**Also, if you are going to criticise like this, don't do it on guest, login so I can have an arguement with you, I enjoy doing that. Anyway, on with the story. It's the morning after.**

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The next morning when I awoke, Jorrvaskr was exhibiting the usual signs of a big party the night before. Torvar was passed out by the firepit, rather than at a table, Njada and Athis were cuddling in the corner, Farkas was snoring loudly, Vilkas had his face in a plate of food, Falin I knew was asleep downstairs, and Skjor and Aela were nowhere to be seen.

What wasn't normal however, was the Whiterun guard standing in the middle of it all, talking to Kodlak. As I drew nearer I heard the guard say, "You'll need to send someone up to Dragonsreach to get all of this sorted out." Before turning and walking out of Jorrvaskr.

Kodlak sighed, and turned to look at me. "Ria," he said, "You seem to be the only sober companion here at the moment, I need you to go up to Dragonsreach for me."

"Yes, Harbinger," I replied, thinking quickly as to why a Companion would be needed at Dragonsreach. "Why will I be going there sir?"

Kodlak sighed again, "It would appear that Ram-Ku has somehow managed to get himself arrested, and is currently sitting in the Dragonsreach dungeon."

I gasped. So that was where Ram-Ku had spent the night? "Master, did the guard say why Ram-Ku had been arrested?"

Kodlak chuckled, "I am no-one's master Ria, but no, this guard has apparently only just come on duty. Apparently Ram-Ku was arrested by the night shift."

I sighed, "Very well Harbinger, I will go and get Ram-Ku from Dragonsreach." As I turned to go, Kodlak threw something at me. I turned and caught it, a money purse, to pay the fines. I should have realised that I would need that.

I headed down the steps outside Jorrvaskr, towards the dying Gildergreen, where Danica Pure-Spring was praying to try and revive the tree. I turned right towards the palace of Dragonsreach, passing the ornamental pools and waterfalls on my way. According to Ysolda, Ram-Ku had been found passed out in these pools after drinking while I had been in the Temple of Kynareth. A guard passed me on the stairs leading to Dragonsreach. I received the usual, "Hail Companion", followed by "Must be here about that crazy lizard." I wondered exactly what Ram-Ku had done to get himself locked up.

When I reached the main door to Dragonsreach, I realised that I had never been here before, and that I had no idea where the dungeon was. I entered the main hall and decided to ask one of the cleaners if they knew where the dungeon was. I was told to go up the stairs then head off to the left and look for the stairs leading downwards. I followed the woman's instructions and found myself in an underground room with multiple cell blocks in.

As I began to search for the Argonian, I was accosted by a guard who demanded to know what I thought I was doing. "I'm here to pay the fine for Ram-Ku," I told him, flashing the coin purse that Kodlak had given me, "How high is the bounty on his head?"

The guard looked puzzled for a moment, then realisation lit up his face, "You mean the big Argonian? 250 septims." I counted out the required amount from the purse. Once the guard was satisfied that I had paid the correct amount, he put the coins in a safe before walking down the room towards the cell at the end. Stopping in front of it, he selected a key from the ring at his belt, and unlocked the door. "Wakey-wakey big guy, some nice Imperial woman's paid your fines."

I heard groaning from inside the cell, "Urgh. Who is it? Carlotta? No she wouldn't have the coin to spare. Ria?"

"Yes Ram-Ku, it's Ria," I said, disrupting his stream of consciousness, whilst wondering myself why he had come to Carlotta Valentia before me, "Kodlak sent me to get you out."

"Gahh, thanks for that. I am not sleeping in a jail cell again." He said. I looked at him; he was clad in a typical roughspun tunic that was given to prisoners, with a hole cut in the back for his tail. "Where's all my stuff?" he asked the guard.

"In the chest through here." Was the reply.

Once Ram-Ku had retrieved his belongings, we left Dragonsreach. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, I asked Ram-Ku why he'd been arrested. He blinked, grinned sheepishly, and told me what had happened after he had stormed out last night.

"After I left, I decided that I needed a drink, I couldn't go back into Jorrvaskr, so I headed to the Bannered Mare." I nodded, of the two inns in Whiterun, the Bannered Mare was the closest. "I sat down, had a few drinks, and a stew, I think," he continued, "I think it was venison, or it might have been beef… anyway. I was in the Bannered Mare, and I noticed that the bard was harassing that Imperial woman from the market," I nodded again, Mikhail's obsession with Carlotta Valentia was well known, as was intention to bed her. "So I went over and told him that he was obviously disturbing the lady, and could he please stop. He told me that I had no business sticking my nose where it wasn't wanted, and that 'Carlotta is mine, she just doesn't know it yet."

"Okay, none of this explains how you got arrested." I interrupted.

He glared at me, "I'm just getting to that. I said that she obviously wasn't his, or why was she doing her best to ignore him. He then told me to 'Fuck off you stupid lizard.' So I punched him in the face."

"And that's what you got arrested for?"

"Not quite," he admitted, "I got arrested for headbutting him in the face."

"How is that worse than punching him?" I asked.

"I broke his nose with my forehead." Ram-Ku replied, grinning, "I don't think he'll be singing about conquering women any time soon."

As we approached the stairs leading to Jorrvaskr, Ram-Ku carried on down towards the plains district, "Where are you going?"

"Going to see how Carlotta is, and also to see if I owe Hulda any money for any damages I may have caused to the inn."

I nodded, "I'll come with you then." Ram-Ku grinned again, before heading towards the market.

As we drew nearer to the market, I could hear all the merchants calling out their wares; Fralia Gray-Mane and her Jewellery, Anoriath and his freshly-caught game, and Carlotta Valentia and her fruits and vegetables. Ysolda was also there, doing her best to learn about the merchant's trade.

We approached Carlotta's stall where she was doing her best to sell her produce. I knew that she worked very hard in order to support her daughter Mila. Putting up with the amorous advances of a bard couldn't make it any easier.

"Morning Carlotta," Ram-Ku called, "How's business going?"

She turned to face us, "Oh, it's you. The drunken Argonian from last night." I grinned at Ram-Ku's expression.

"Seriously? Is that all anyone knows me as in this town? 'The Drunken Argonian'?"

Carlotta smiled slightly, "That's what you looked like last night. But thanks anyway for dealing with Mikhail for me, Ram-Ku, isn't it?"

"That's right," the grin had returned, "And how is our bardic friend? Given you any trouble today?"

"No, not yet. His nose is completely busted, and Danica won't heal him because someone showed her what he'd written in that dreadful book of his."

I grinned the look of confusion on Ram-Ku's face. "That idiot wrote a book? He can write?"

"Not so much a book, as a guide to women of Whiterun. Most of us have seen it, and none of us liked it." She replied.

"Fortunately he stayed away from Jorrvaskr, so none of us are in us book." I interjected. Ram-Ku started chuckling. "What is it?" I inquired.

"I just had a vision of Mikhail trying it on with Aela." He said, breaking into laughter. I stared at him for a moment before laughing myself.

"She'd probably of chased him out of Whiterun."

Once Ram-Ku had stopped laughing, he told Carlotta that if Mikhail bothered her again, to tell him, and he would deal with it. As we headed towards the Bannered Mare, we were stopped by Jon Battle-Born, "I heard you beat up that milk-drinker, Mikhail, friend."

"Aye, that I did. Do you not like the man?"

"Can't stand him. The man gives all bards a bad name. We have a proud history of warrior-poets, I count myself lucky to be one of them, but all Mikhail sings for is the affection of wenches. Hopefully you have beaten that out of him."

The two men shared a laugh, "If not, I'll just have to punch him a bit harder next time."

We continued towards the Bannered Mare. As we arrived, the door swung open, revealing Mikhail, sporting a broken nose, two black eyes, and a couple of red stripes leading away from his nose, which looked suspiciously like Ram-Ku's horns.

"You again?" He hissed.

"Yes, me again."

"You should be in jail, scaleback."

"I was, but unlike you, I have friends to pay my fines."

I could sense that a fight was brewing. "Calm down Ram-Ku, he's not worth it."

"Yes that's right, listen to your little Imperial bitch friend." Mikhail sneered.

The next thing I knew, he was on the floor, clutching at his nose, squealing in pain. Ram-Ku hadn't moved. I had been the one to punch Mikhail in the face.

"What's going on here?" a guard had appeared, "Is that assault?"

I panicked at the thought that I would end up in the Dragonsreach dungeons. "Nay man, he threw the first punch." Jon Battle-Born's voice cut in, "The woman was just defending herself. As you can see Mikhail has a habit of getting into fights that he can't finish."

Mikhail glared at him, "That's not true, she just swung at me."

The guard looked at me, "Did he start or did you?"

"He started it," I said, "He called me a bitch, and then he swung for me."

The guard looked at Ram-Ku and Jon, "Is that true?"

Ram-Ku nodded, "Aye, he called Ria a bitch, then swung for her."

Jon backed him up, "I didn't hear anything, but he definitely took the first swing."

The guard hauled a protesting Mikhail off towards Dragonsreach, whilst I realised that not only had I just assaulted Mikhail, I had lied to a guard as well. It took me a moment to realise that both Ram-Ku and Jon were grinning at me. "What?" I demanded.

Jon laughed, "Ha, you Companions certainly have a fire in you, and you seem to have declared war on Mikhail. Tell me, when can I expect the Harbinger to get involved?"

Ram-Ku laughed as well, "Kodlak won't be getting involved, but he might send Vilkas and Farkas to do it for him," then to me, "Seriously Ria, I though you were the nice, sensible Companion, but first you punch Njada, now you beat up Mikhail. Looks like I'll need to watch myself around you."

Both of them laughed again. "Shut up the pair of you. Ram-Ku, don't you need to see Hulda about any damage you might have caused?"

"Well, I suppose I do. Well, see you again Jon."

"Aye, maybe we can have a drink together and laugh at Mikhail, that is, if you're allowed back in the Bannered Mare."

Ram-Ku and I walked into the Inn and walked over to the bar to speak to Hulda. "Errm, excuse me. I just wanted to ask if I damaged anything during my fight last night."

Hulda smiled at him, "No, you didn't, so you don't have to worry about paying for anything either. Also, I'm not banning you from coming here again. Most of the patrons said you provided better entertainment than Mikhail ever did. You didn't break anything…"

"Apart from Mikhail's nose." I cut in.

"Aye,"Hulda laughed, "That, and his pride. You didn't offend anyone, apart from Mikhail, so you can still drink here."

"Thank you very much Hulda," Ram-Ku said, "I may, or may not drink here again soon, depends on whether I have any cause to celebrate anything." So saying, we left the Inn, and began the trip to Jorrvaskr. On our way up to the wind district, we were accosted by Skjor and Aela who had returned from wherever they had been the night before, and had heard the gossip about us and Mikhail.

"So which one of you broke his nose?" Aela asked.

"That would be me, but I think that Ria messed it up even more." Ram-Ku replied.

"Jon Battle-Born seems to think that Jorrvaskr's declared war on Mikhail." Skjor said gruffly.

"I'm fairly sure that he's just joking." I said.

"Aye, he probably is. Ram-Ku, I need to speak to you later, meet by the Skyforge tonight." Skjor said, before he hurried of Aela.

When we returned to Jorrvaskr, Ram-Ku was bowled over by Falin. "She's been worried about you all day," Athis grinned, showing off a black eye that he had most likely received when Njada realised that he was cuddling her that morning, "Especially when Kodlak told us you'd been thrown in prison."

"Well he's out now!" Torvar announced, "I think we should have a drink to celebrate!"

"Torvar, you're just using this as an excuse to get drunk." Aela said.

"_I _never need an excuse to get drunk. You prudes on the other hand…"

"Are you calling me a prude Torvar? 200 septims says I can beat you in a drinking contest"

"You're on." He laughed.

Once again, Jorrvaskr rang with the sound of tankards clanging and the typical noises of a Jorrvaskr drinking session.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a typical Jorrvaskr drinking session, most likely to be followed by a typical Jorrvaskr morning after the following day. Falin had already excused herself to go downstairs to the sleeping quarters, making sure to avoid Njada on the way. Not that was too difficult, seeing as Njada was already arguing with Athis about something, possibly dual-wielding versus sword and shield from the gestures being made. Soon enough the two of them had abandoned any form of weapons in favour of fists, egged on by the, mostly-drunk, Companions. I grinned slightly as I took in the forms of Aela and Torvar preparing to begin a drinking contest… a drinking contest that was interrupted by Skjor beckoning to Aela to come with him. She did so, after informing Skjor that the bet was off until next time, and that no, she wouldn't be paying him anything, as she couldn't possibly lose a contest that hadn't started. Torvar seemed ready to argue until Skjor growled at him and told the pair to stop acting like children.

Aela followed Skjor in the direction of Ram-Ku, who was sitting on his own, drinking Honingbrew mead out of a tankard. A quick discussion followed, which led to Ram-Ku following the others out of Jorrvaskr.

My musings on the matter were disturbed by Torvar shoving a tankard of mead at my chest. "All the others are busy; Aela's run off with Skjor and the new guy, leaving me without an opponent for my drinking competition." He grinned.

"Leaving me as the only option." I guessed, and judging from his widening grin, I judged Torvar's motives correctly. "You want me to have a drinking contest? With you?" I could barely keep the surprise out of my voice, "Torvar, are you not aware that most people consider me to be a bit of a lightweight? Nordic I may be in battle, but not in drinking."

He continued grinning, "Ah it doesn't matter, all I need is someone to drink with. Someone to-"

Unfortunately, whatever else Torvar needed someone to do was drowned out by a howl from outside, followed by the shouts and screams of townsfolk and guards.

"What the hell was that?" Athis demanded, breaking off from his current dispute with Njada. His question was answered when a guardsman in a torn and bloodied uniform burst through the doors and started saying something about a werewolf running wild in Whiterun.

I suddenly felt really nervous, surely werewolves were just ancient Nordic folk tales, they didn't exsist right? They were like dragons. I looked to Farkas for guidance on the matter, and saw something that didn't exactly make me feel any better. Both Farkas and Vilkas had the same expression on their faces, an expression of fear and worry.

Suddenly someone from outside shouted, "Oh Gods, more of them!" and another loud howl split the night. Farkas and VIlkas suddenly seemed to be more reassured, although how two or possibly even three, werewolves were better than one was anyone's guess.

Kodlak chose that moment to come up from the sleeping quarters, trailed by a half-asleep Falin. "Vilkas, Farkas, run these beasts out of town, bring them down if you have to." He quickly took charge. Vilkas and Farkas both nodded, grabbing their weapons and heading out of the door towards the loudest concentration of howls and screams. Kodlak then turned to the remainder of the Companions, "The rest of you, get some sleep, two nights of heavy drinking in a row is bad for anyone who isn't Torvar. Tilma doesn't need to clean up the main hall two nights in a row."

This announcement was followed by assorted grumbles, most notably from Torvar who would have been quite happy to carry on drinking. Slowly, everyone made it downstairs to their sleeping quarters, but in Torvar's case, not their beds. Njada fell face first onto her bed, Athis curled up on his and promptly fell asleep, Falin was flat out on her back, wearing an unenchanted version of her mage robes and peculiar-looking gloves on her hands. Unlike the rest of the Companions, I had some difficulty in falling asleep, I was worried about the werewolves. I knew that Farkas and Vilkas were excellent fighters, but would they be able to hold their own against the werewolves, never mind drive them out of Whiterun as Kodlak had suggested. As I began to settle down, I also began to wonder were Skjor, Aela and Ram-Ku had gone. Had they left Whiterun before the werewolves had appeared? For some reason I felt that Aela and Skjor would do better against the werewolves than Vilkas and Farkas could do. Still wondering what the two circle members could possibly want with Ram-Ku I let sleep claim me.

_It seemed that the werewolves were affecting my mind. In my dreams all of Whiterun where werewolves apart from the Companions, and we were forced to fight and kill people that previously had been our friends. At first we held them off easily, but eventually sheer numbers began to overwhelm and one by one, my shield-sibling fell to the teeth of the werewolves. Eventually the wolves fell upon me, tearing at me with their fangs and claws._

I woke with a start and did a quick self-assessment to ensure that I still had all of my limbs, and that I had not been torn apart by a horde of werewolves. I realised that it was late morning, and that I needed to get up before they sent someone to wake up.

As I entered the main hall I noticed that Vilkas and Farkas had returned and were talking to Kodlak about the werewolves from the previous night.

"Well look who it is, miss lightweight," Torvar's voice caught my attention, "Drank some more last night did you?"

"Torvar, what are you on about?" I asked.

"Why it's midday, even I've been awake longer than you have."

I groaned, out even longer than Torvar, I would be the butt of drunken jokes for a while to come.

"Whelp!" Vilkas' voice called, "I've got a job I need you to take."

"Yes Vilkas," I replied, "What is it?"

"Ahlam has been kidnapped, we think she's being held in Rannveig's fast. We need you to go out there and rescue her."

"Right, but why me? Surely you or Farkas would be a better choice."

"We can't go because the Jarl wants us to track down and kill these werewolves before they attack Whiterun again."

"How much damage did they do?" I asked.

"Go and have look for yourself," Vilkas grimaced, "It's not exactly pretty. Oh, and take Falin with you, it's about time she got some practical experience."

"Wait, why with me?"

"We need to send her out with someone," Vilkas explained, "She only trusts you, Athis and Ram-Ku, and those two are out doing jobs. Besides, it's only a simple rescue job, just keep her out of trouble, and bring Ahlam back."

"Is it like her trial then?" I asked, aware of two things; one, Falin had never done a traditional trial, she had been accepted as a healer, two, a trial was generally conducted under the supervision of a circle member, or a senior companion.

"Yes, it's her trial. You're the one taking it because she outright refuses to work with, or even talk to anyone who's a Nord, Athis is away, and Ram-Ku would be biased."

I almost corrected him about Falin refusing to talk to him, but I remembered that I had promised not to tell anyone about the fact she couldn't speak. Instead I grinned slyly at him. "Does this mean you're accepting me as an important member of the Companions then?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself whelp, you're not that important yet."

Our discussion had by this point attracted the attention of Farkas, "Vilkas, leave off Ria, she's proven herself to be a useful member of the Companions."

I grinned at Vilkas' expression, part put-out at being corrected, part shocked that Farkas had acted on his own initiative. "That's as may be Farkas, but she's still a whelp."

I left the brothers to their argument and headed off in search of Falin. I found her in the living quarters, hands glowing with restoration magic as she healed a sabre cat scar on Athis' chest.

"Outmatched by a sabre cat Athis?" I asked cheekily. Athis groaned and rolled his eyes.

"For your information Ria, there were two of them. I killed one and its mate caught me as I turned to face it."

"I didn't come down here to talk to you about your scratch Athis, I came to talk to Falin." Falin looked up at me this. "I need her to come with me to Rannveig's Fast for her trial."

"_You're_ taking someone's trial, Ria?"

I didn't care much for the tone of disbelief in Athis' voice, "That's right Athis, I've been recognised as a responsible member of the Companions, tell me, how many trials have you presided over?"

He easily recognised the challenge in my voice and held up his palms in surrender, "Okay, you win, my chest's healing up nicely now, I don't need your healing magic anymore." The last part was directed at Falin, who nodded and stood up, shutting off the healing glow in her hands.

Ram-Ku had spent my a couple of days teaching me how to read Falin's body language and gestures, for any 'short-term occasions' that he was away, so I had little trouble understanding the question about what sort of job we would be doing.

"It's just a simple rescue mission," I reassured her, "We have to go and rescue someone from Rannveig's Fast."

Who? Was her next question.

"A woman named Ahlam, from Whiterun. There shouldn't be any problems. We just go into an old Nordic ruin, kill whoever's holding her captive, and go collect the money."

She nodded and began to gather numerous magicka potions from around the room.

"Falin," I asked, a thought striking me, "You can attack enemies, can't you? I mean, your magic isn't just limited to restoration is it?"

She smiled and held out her hand, and flames began to dance in her palm.

"So you can use destruction magic then?"

She nodded, shutting of the flames spell.

"Well let's go then." I said, walking up the stairs to the main hall, followed by Falin in her mage robes. As we stepped out of Jorrvaskr, I breathed in sharply. Vilkas hadn't been lying when he said it hadn't been pretty. The Gildergreen itself was miraculously unharmed, the wooden trellis surrounding it however had more or less collapsed, and the remains were held up by two or three supports on the temple of Kynareth side. As we headed down into the plains district it didn't get any better. Fralia Gray-Mane's stand outside the Bannered Mare had been torn apart, as had Anoriath's. The canopy outside Arcadia's Cauldron and Belethor's General Store had completely collapsed, due to the fact that all the supports had been torn to shreds.

I spotted the first bloodstains outside Breezehome, paling, I turned to the nearest guard, "Who's blood is that?" I asked him.

"It's Sven's he replied, "One of the three guards that the werewolf killed last night."

"Werewolf?" I asked, "I thought that there were three."

"Aye," he replied, "But it was the first one that did all the damage, the other two seemed to be trying to control it somewhat."

"Control it?" I asked.

"Aye," he said again, "My guess is that they were civilised people who didn't want unnecessary bloodshed, and that the first one was newly turned."

"Could you describe the werewolves for me?"

"Sure. The first one was the largest and had the darkest fur, almost black with a slight hint of green. The second one was slightly smaller and had orange-brown fur. The last one was obviously a lot older and had silver fur, I used to be a hunter before a guard, and I would suggest that the big silver one was the alpha. It was blind in one eye, and was missing half an ear, but it definitely seemed to be in control."

I thanked the guard and set off with Falin towards the main gate, and from there to Rannveig's Fast.

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**A/N: I know I told everyone that I would be updating more regularly now that my laptop was fixed, but I forgot that my parents had booked a holiday to Italyand Croatia. The Wi-Fi here is terrible, as such I will probably get more written as I will not be distracted by youtube videos, but I probably will not be able to update, sorry.**

**On another note, how would people feel about the introduction of a _drunk _Falin? It will probably be Torvar's fault... or possibly Sam's fault. I now have an image of an extremely angry Ram-Ku opening a gate to Oblivion to duke it with the Daedric prince of drinking and debauchery, should be interesting. If I go with Torvar, then he will probably get punched. Tell me your opinions, should Falin get drunk, and who's fault should it be? There will be a poll on my profile.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well, I'm finally back to this. I am so sorry that it has taken me so long, but a lot of things have been happening recently. First I had appendicitis and had to have it removed, then I started my A levels at sixth form and more or less collapsed under the increased workload.**

**Anyway, onto the story. We see Falin's trial and acceptance into the Companions in this one. Also there are two movie quotations in this chapter, anyone who gets them right wins a virtual cookie. Get them both right, win a whole virtual jar.**

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Rannveig's fast did not go well. Our first indication that everything was not normal should have come when we attacked by apologetic ghosts outside the ruins. I had been down numerous Nordic ruins in my time as a Companion, and usually they were guarded by draugr or skeletons, occasionally bandits, but never ghosts. Falin's approach to ghosts was fire, lots and lots of fire. Once we had finished dealing with the ghosts, the exterior of the ruin looked like the descriptions of Oblivion I had heard when I was younger. "Falin, was all that fire really necessary?" I asked her. She shook her head, so apparently not. "So why do it then?" She made a series of gestures accompanied by a grin which I interpreted as 'because it's fun'. I groaned to myself, I was about to go into a Nordic ruin with a pyromaniac. This was going to be fun.

Inside the ruin, it was actually rather quiet at first, no more ghosts apologising for being 'forced' to attack us or claiming that they didn't want to do it. The first room seemed like it was still outside, covered in flowers and other plant life. The second room contained a ghost that was ripped apart by a large fireball. I turned to see Falin uncorking a blue bottle and downing the contents, shuddering slightly. I didn't need to understand Falin's body language to surmise that the potion probably didn't taste like mead. The third room that we entered contained another ghost, this one Falin killed with a blast of flames to the face. We continued towards the large wall at the end of the room, with a chest in front of it. Falin spotted a path of to the side of the room and headed towards it. Heading down this path, we encountered yet another ghost which died in fire before it could even apologise for attacking us. Falin then flipped a switch, opening a gate which led to an area of the ruin containing cells.

As we went further into the room we could hear two voices, one which I identified as belonging to Ahlam. She seemed to be pleading with the owner of the other voice to let her go. She sounded terrified. The other voice roughly told her that she would not be leaving, that she was his to do with as he pleased. Ahlam's sobs at this pronouncement galvanised both of us into action. As we rounded the corner, Falin's fireball brought the man to his knees, and my skyforge steel sword pierced his chest, and his heart, killing him. Ahlam was now cowering at the back of the cage in the middle of the room.

I inspected the door to the cage, and identified it as having an expert level lock on. I had some small skill in lockpicking, but nowhere near enough to open this lock. I turned to Falin, "Do you have any skills at lockpicking?" I asked her. She motioned me away from the lock, looked at it, glanced up at me, smiled slightly, then placed her hand flat against the lock. The lock flared red, then white-blue, as Falin alternated between fire and ice magic, heating and cooling the lock until eventually it shattered and the door swung open. Ahlam was still cowering against the back of the cage. Falin stepped backwards and motioned me forwards. I placed my hand on Ahlam's shoulder, she flinched backwards at my touch. "Ahlam," I spoke softly, "Ahlam, it's me, Ria. From the Companions. We're here to rescue you." She looked up at that.

"Ria?" she breathed, "Is he dead? Is that horrible man dead?" She sounded almost like lost little girl.

"He is," I assured her, "We saw to that, he won't be hurting you anymore." As I said that, I noticed a series of dark stains on Ahlam's clothing, and a large wound on her left forearm. I called Falin over and gestured to the wounds, she nodded and crouched over Ahlam, her hands flickering with golden healing light, sealing up the wounds on Ahlam's body. Once she had finished doing so, Ahlam passed out. Falin looked up at me and made a series of gestures that translated as 'We came, we saw, we kicked its ass.' I smiled.

"Yes, Falin, yes we did." I picked up Ahlam's unconscious body, whilst Falin searched the mage's body for anything valuable. She found a key and a book that bore the crest of the school of destruction which she flicked through, apparently fascinated by what was contained within. "Falin." She jolted out of her concentration, "Come on, we need to go." We headed down the passage on the right where we encountered another ghost which was dispatched by one of Falin's fireballs which seemed slightly more powerful than the ones she had been hurling around before. She then used the key that she had taken from the mage to open the iron door on the left. Behind the door we found a chest which contained, much to Falin's obvious delight, a set of adept destruction robes which she happily stored in her pack. We set off up the path towards the exit of the ruins, following the sound of the wind and the smell of fresh air.

When we arrived back in Whiterun, the first thing that we did was return Ahlam to her husband Nazeem who somehow managed to rein his natural snobbiness in for long enough to thank us and pay us. Then we headed towards Jorrvaskr to inform Vilkas of our success. As we reached Jorrvaskr, the main doors swung open, and Torvar ran out cursing. Falin promptly dived behind my back. I turned to stare at her, as I realised that Falin acted completely different when she wasn't around Nords. Her behaviour in Rannveig's fast had proven that much.

We entered the mead hall and were promptly greeted by the sight of Njada and Athis going at it again. I grinned at the sight, poor Athis, I didn't understand why he kept fighting Njada. It was quite sad actually, always watching him get his arse handed to him. At least those were my thoughts right up until he swept Njada's legs out from underneath her sending her crashing to the floor. The surrounding Companions were silent for a moment, then cheered Athis' success.

"Well done Athis, you finally beat her." Farkas called.

Vignar and his manservant, Brill were laughing at the pair of them, especially at the expression on Njada's face. Tilma was fussing over the mess that the two had made. Vilkas on the other hand looked thoughtful, as I drew nearer I heard him muttering to himself, "That looks a lot like what Ram-Ku did when he fought against me. Has he been teaching…" His voice trailed off as he noticed me and Falin standing there. "So," he asked, "How did it go?"

"Well…" I said, "I never want to explore a ruin filled with ghosts again, at least not if they're going to keep apologising for trying to kill me. But Falin did a good job, hardly needed any help from me. Although perhaps she needs to tone the destruction magic down a little bit." Falin smiled slightly at this.

"So you think she's got what it takes then?"

"Of course, she's not exactly a conventional, or traditional, member of the Companions, but she's got the spirit."

"Excellent, I'll go and inform Kodlak, and he can decide when we hold the ceremony." As Vilkas headed off in the direction of the living quarters, I realised that there was still no sign of Ram-Ku, Aela or Skjor, I idly wondered what they had had to do that had kept them away from Jorrvaskr.

I shrugged, it was probably a more difficult job seeing as how it had required three of them to take care of it. I walked over to Athis and started talking to him about his fight with Njada. I discovered that Vilkas was right, he had been taking lessons from Ram-Ku. "He just came up to me a couple of days ago and said that he had some advice that could help me with my fighting against Njada. Told me that with most brawlers, their weakness is their legs because they're too busy concentrating on the arms." He paused to take a swig of mead, "Then he started spouting some zen-like rubbish about everything starting from the bottom, made some comparison to trees. Then he swept my legs out from under me with his tail, told me to concentrate more, and then he started teaching me."

"So you got good enough to beat Njada then?"

He grinned viciously, reminding me slightly of Falin when she was flinging destruction magic about, "Oh yes. Who knows? Maybe now she'll be the one getting dumped on her arse every time a new blood walks in." He looked slightly pensive, "All my life growing up in Morrowind I was taught that Argonians were evil fuckers that couldn't be trusted with anything. I thought that they were an inferior race fiit only to serve. I was taught that they were murderous, invading bastards. I've never been so wrong in all my life. That 'stupid lizard' as my family used to call them, has helped me so much."

Vilkas interrupted anything else that Athis had been about to say as she stomped back up the stairs towards us, causing Falin to reassume her position behind my back. "Kodlak says to get ready out the back, we're going to be doing the initiation now."

"But what about Aela and Skjor?" I asked him, "Shouldn't all the circle be present for this? And what about Ram-Ku? I'm sure he'd want to see Falin's initiation."

Vilkas seemed to be searching for the right words, "Kodlak says that Skjor told him that the three of them would be gone for about three days, so far only one has passed. I do not think that we would want to deny Falin her honour any longer than is necessary?" He tried to smile reassuringly, but Falin remained stubbornly ensconced behind me. Vilkas looked slightly put off, but turned and walked out of the doors, stopping to get Farkas on the way.

I turned to Falin, "So, are you ready to properly join Ysgramor's Companions?"

She nodded and followed me out onto the training yard, where Kodlak, Vilkas and Farkas stood waiting, Farkas in his steel armour, his brother and the Harbinger clad in the Companions wolf armour. Kodlak began the ceremony, has old voice still strong, "Brothers of the Circle, today we welcome a new soul into our mortal fold. This woman has endured, has challenged, and has shown her valour. Who will speak for her?"

I remembered my initiation ceremony where Aela had stepped forward to speak for me. I remembered her words as though they were yesterday. I stepped forward, my heart in my mouth. "I will stand as witness to the courage of the soul before us." Soul… was that right? What if I screwed this up. Fortunately Kodlak continued with the ceremony so I must've gotten it at least vaguely right.

"Would you raise your shield in her defence?"

"I would stand at her back," I replied, "So that the world might never overtake us."

"And would you raise your sword in her honour?"

"It stands ready to meet the blood of her foes."

"And would you raise a mug in her name?"

I gulped, "I would lead the song of triumph as our mead hall reveled in her stories."

I glanced at Falin and almost giggled when I saw that she had gone blue at all the praise.

"Then the judgement of this Circle is complete." Kdolak finished, "Her heart beats with the fury and the courage that have united the Companions since the days of the distant green summers. Let it beat with ours, that the mountains may echo and our enemies tremble at the call."

I spoke in time with Vilkas and Farkas, "It shall be so." And thus the initiation ceremony was concluded. Vilkas and Farkas headed inside to start the drinking. Kodlak walked over to me and Falin.

"Well, girl," He said to Falin, "you're one of us now. I trust that you won't disappoint." Then he turned to me. "Well Ria, that was very well spoken. You knew the words and spoke them with great conviction."

"I meant every last word of them," I told him, "I would protect Falin's back in a fight, and I would trust her to protect mine." He nodded.

"You have wisdom and bravery far beyond your years girl." He said, "I think…" The last thought petered off. "I think that it is time to go inside and celebrate the acceptance of our newest shield-sister." He walked past us into the building. I turned to smile at Falin. It was looking like Jorrvaskr would once again ring out with drunken song. The two of us walked towards the doors, where we could already hear the sound of mead being drunk.

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**A/N: So what did you think? Please tell me your opinions. Also I'm thinking that maybe I need to bolster the ranks of the Companions slightly so if anyone wants to send me any OCs to that effect please do. Otherwise the Companions will start to fill up with characters from my mind, and most of those are slightly insane. Also ask any questions you may have and I will answer them.**


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